This Carrara marble Medici lion is one of two guarding the entrance to the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, Florida. These carvings by F. Romanelli were a gift from local philanthropist Dr. Andrew Anderson. The bridge has been called “The Most Beautiful Bridge in Dixie.” It is even more beautiful after an $80 million restoration was finished. The male lion with his paw on an orb was patterned after the originals commissioned in 1576 for the Italian garden of Ferdinando I dé Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The pair from the 16th century is now in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence, Italy.